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47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. ~ Matthew 13:47-50
Today, we return to our study of Matthew 13 where the Lord Jesus used seven parables in order to show the nature and the power of the kingdom of heaven. There are 35 parables that are recorded in the Synoptic Gospels. In the early part of the ministry of the Lord Jesus, He did not use parables in His teaching. Toward the end of His three year ministry He spoke in parables because there was quite the divide among those who listened to and learned from the Lord Jesus' teaching and those who didn't. Some were really not interested in what He taught while others hung on His every word. So, He spoke in parables which required ardent thinking in order to understand.
In v.47-48 of today's passage we read, "47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, 48 which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away."
This parable is a story about a fishing trip. The men on this trip took a huge net, the kind you would spread out to trawl between two boats. Fishing in biblical days was common. It was a way of life. For some of the disciples fishing was their way of making a living, so they understood very clearly this parable. The dragnet garnered all sorts of fish indiscriminately. Eventually the time came to pull the big net out onto the shore, and that’s when they sat down to sort out their catch. They collected the fish worth keeping, and the worthless ones they threw away.
The point the Lord Jesus was making that day was: God’s kingdom is likened to a dragnet. Within it, we find all sorts of people, good and bad, in close proximity. While the fish could not sort themselves out people can believe in God's salvation or not. When the time comes to pull in the net, it will be obvious who were the believers and who were not. It will not be that God will not know in advance of this result. He will, but He’s waiting for the right time to bring things on this earth to its end. He won’t sort it out until the end of the fishing expedition has come.
There is coming a day when the time for placing one's faith in the Son of God will be over. At that time God's angels will separate the believers from the unbelievers. The separation will be sudden and ultimate. From our point of view right now, little by little the net moves through the seas of time drawing all men to the shores of eternity for that inevitable event. Meanwhile, those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus are those who are being defined by the devil himself. They just do not know it due to their fallen nature and the devil's great powers of deception. And sadly, by the time the people will awaken to what has been happening, it will be too late.
In v.49-50 of today's passage we read, "49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, 50 and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth."
God's angels will separate the bad fish from the good ones. The bad ones who lack trust in the Lord Jesus will suffer separation from God and all that is good and right for eternity. At the end of time, the good fish will remain with God in the context of everything substantive, good and right. But for now, the good fish and the bad fish must live together in God’s net until the time to separate them. This is the same truth taught in the parable of the wheat and the tares. At the end of time, the Son of Man will send His angels and they will gather all the bad fish and they will be cast into hell which is illustrated here by a furnace of fire where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
The Lord Jesus warned us about hell many times. In fact, He spoke of hell more than anyone else in the Bible. Many times He warned the people not to take lightly their sins because there would come a day when they would be judged for them. In John 3:17-18 the Lord Jesus said, "17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."
The Lord Jesus came to throw the drowning a life vest. And, for those who resist the life vest, they will sadly drown in their sin. The Lord Jesus came to bear the weight of the wages of our sin on the cross. Something we could not do for ourselves. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. God is not willing that any should spend an eternity in hell. His heart of compassion warns about sins eternal consequences because He loves all men, even those who mock Him. If the Lord Jesus hadn’t taught us about hell, we would be ignorantly unaware. But, we are not. People do not believe in hell because they do not understand the intense nature of sin. In hell, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth for eternity. The Lord Jesus spoke much about hell because man could not of himself have conceived of eternal damnation. More than anything else, the Lord Jesus intensely warned us about hell which was a compassionate thing to do. God never prepared hell for people. He prepared it for the devil and his angels. But people choose to go there. It is a place of inconceivable misery.
The Lord Jesus didn’t talk about hell just to scare us. He talked about it because He wants us to know that God has provided a way of escape out of it! God doesn’t want us to be separated from Him forever. He loves us, and He wants us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. Unlike hell, heaven is a place of joy and peace and freedom from all the fears and pains of this world. If you haven't yet, by faith turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and admit to Him that you need Him to be your Savior and that you believe that His finished work on the cross paid the penalty for your sin. Then, ask Him to come into your life.
